Ace Hotel & Swim Club: Awesome Hipster-ness

Before going on this journey with me, I ask you to choose some “House Music” for your background.
Now, pour yourself a ridiculously neon-colored beverage.
Next, slip into a tube top, mini skirt and flip flops.
Slather on some sunscreen for the aromatic effect.
Grab your Coach suitcases, Dior sunglasses and pull the Bentley out of the garage to set the mood.
 

Now that we’ve gathered everything, we are ready to enter the Ace Hotel and Swim Club hipster hotel in Palm Springs, CA.

 

It’s pretty unimpressive when you first pull up. It’s just a 60’s hotel that’s been redone.

 

But apparently, it’s so popular it requires those annoying bracelets that you usually get at a concert-the ones that you have to cut off with a machete-to be worn if you want to enter the premises. No bracelet-no hangy outy.

 

The grounds are rather expansive-with fire pits, outdoor lounge areas and walking paths.

 

It also has a pool that pumps even louder House Music. And it has beautiful people walking around with a laissez faire attitude.

 

They have nothing better to do than wear aviators, short shorts and drink out of plastic cups. Unless, of course, they need to go to town for some essentials-and then they can rent these super cute scooters.

 

Or, if they are over the legal limit, they can settle for a bike.
I settled for my room, a glass of wine and a cotton robe left for us as “an amenity” in the closet. Another amenity was a bucket of beer they delivered to our room.
I suppose it’s not so bad here at the Ace Hotel. Even if I can’t get the gosh darn bracelet off.

Signs, Signs, everywhere are Signs-Palm Springs, CA

When you buy a new car, do you start to notice all the ones that look like yours? Of if you happen to break up with someone, do you suddenly start noticing everyone else that’s holding hands, smooching and in love (and want to punch them)?
When I’m on tour, I get on these kicks of photographing a cool signs which makes me then see more and more signs. But, I’m glad I do-they inspire me. The colors chosen are typically eye-catching. After all, the signs are advertising something and are trying to grab your attention. The color combos, fonts and text placement influence my creative decisions, whether I like it or not.
 

The signage at the Ace Hotel and Swim Club in Palm Springs was weathered but bright. The paint was chipping off the five foot letters in a haphazard-but-we-meant-to sort of way.

These colors together inspired me to have Harold in my bathroom. Yes, yellow and bits of red can coexist without looking campy.

 

Our room number. The wood against the adobe made the sign feel warm, aged and homey. This sign inspired me to make a Cedar Christmas Garland from cross sections of a tree.

 

The color combo on this hotel inspired me to do make Pretty Paper Christmas Trees in a bold red and robin’s egg blue combo for Christmas. Granted this sign is more tangerine and aqua-but it was the beginning of a mind shift for this gal.

 

I loved the sleek black on the rough wood. It reminded me of our leather headboard behind our master bed with barn wood floors.

 

The vintage feeling of this sign always inspires me to use cutesy stars and fonts whenever I can. Cutesy is my middle name, you know:
Rebekah Cutesy Greiman.

I am inspired by signs, what inspires you?

To dream a little dream-Pennsylvania

Biceps and I have a dream that has been formulating over the past year. We lease a coach (like the one we typically tour in) that houses 12 people, complete with toilet, shower and sinks.

Since both of us have our CDL and are used to driving 45′ Prevost’s, we would take our families throughout the east coast for a fall leaf tour.
We would pay for everything-their airfare to get to us, the food each time we eat out, any horrible souvenirs they must have-everything. And we would drive wherever we wanted to go.

 

It would look a little something like this.

 

Except with a few of these weirdos on board…

 

…along with several more from this side.

 

We would be sipping coffee as we pass by this type of landscape, talking of what we will eat for lunch…

 

…which of course would naturally progress into what we are having for dinner.

 

My dad would talk about the, “Beauty of God’s creation”-one of his favorite things to say.
And Bicep’s dad would be curious about “how fast can a bus go?”.

 

No matter what, we’d be together, drinking coffee and making memories. At least, that’s how it happens in my dream-world. What’s your dream?

What a mess! Atlanta Hotels are weird….

Touring for years with my hubby musician, I’ve seen a lot of weird stuff. I’ve also had a hand in making some weird stuff happen to the bands we are on tour with. But, that’s a whole other story.

Let me give you a few fine examples:
1. A Cockroach-the size of a coin purse-flying out of a shower head and onto me at a not so fine hotel.
2. A gigantic plastic cow on a flatbed trailer being hauled by a convertible Dodge Dart.
3. A person that no one knew showed up in our bus, plopped down on the couch, and proceeded to drink our tequila. It wasn’t until I began asking around that we all realized the man was a stranger-a sneaky tequila drinking stranger.
4. A church steeple drove by our window as we sat in a Dairy Queen. Not kidding.
5. An RV burned to the ground on the side of the highway.

That’s enough for now. I’m sure I can rustle up a few more, but we’ll save those for later.

So, here’s a look at one of the weird things that I have witnessed at a hotel in Atlanta, Ga. This was underneath the nightstand that sat in between the two queen beds.

Why? Why was this necessary? How many things could possibly be plugged in to make such a gigantic mess?

 

Up close, you realize the insanity of the situation. I tried to undo the bunch of wires, hoping to bring organization to my life and peace to my frazzled mind.
However, it was thoughtfully zip-tied together.
Biceps stopped me before grabbing my fingernail clippers to cut through the plastic zip-tie.
And he reminded me that we were only there for a night. And to go to sleep.